Helping to defeat attack on government regulation

Case Status: Victory

Authors

Council of CanadiansClient

Barn. Photo: Stefania Mazzucco

When the Northwest Territories Court of Appeal ruled that “freedom of association” could be interpreted to mean “freedom to engage in commercial activities” we were concerned it would restrict government’s ability to regulate commercial activities – with far-reaching environmental implications. We intervened on behalf of the Council of Canadians at the Supreme Court of Canada, where the lower court decision was overturned. The corporate plaintiffs in the case claimed that egg marketing quotas violated their constitutional rights.

Why was Ecojustice involved?

Although the facts in this case did not raise an environmental issue, we felt the legal issues had far-reaching implications for the environment.

What does this victory mean?

If the lower court ruling had not been overturned in this case, corporations could have used the Charter to launch a legal challenge regulations that got in the way of business, including regulations intended to protecting the environment and people’s health.